[center][color=darkorange][b][u]TIME IS AN ILLUSION; RELATIVITY IS KEY THE EMPTY IS ALL[/u][/b][/color][/center] HE IS NOTHING HE IS EVERYTHING HE IS ONE WITH THE UNIVERSE ONE WITH THIS UNIVERSE AND ALL OTHERS HE CAN SEE YOU ALL SITTING IN FRONT OF YOUR COMPUTERS YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO WANT TO PLAY SUPERHERO LET US PLAY A GAME LET US SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR HIM TO BREAK FREE FROM THE EMPTY ARE YOU READY SET YOUR TIMERS GO [center][color=darkorange][b][u]Time Doesn't Exist The Empty[/u][/b][/color][/center] He is sure he exists. He is. This place. He calls it the Empty. There is nothing. One might picture nothing as a black void. He doesn't see that. It just... Isn't. He doesn't know his name. All he can recall of his past are visions of death and suffering. He must have once been human, if these visions of war are any indication. After all, war is a man-made invention, no? He wants desperately to be human again. With all he can muster, he [i]wants[/i]. [center][color=darkorange][b][u]October 17th, 2021; 1:09 PM CADMUS Facility; Beneath Metropolis, Delaware[/u][/b][/color][/center] He breaks through. This... Building? Cold steel walls. Concrete floor. It's underground, stretching to miles below the surface. It feels familiar. He knows the people within. How? That he doesn't know. He must alert them. He must inform them that he's still here. He has to get that across to them. He wants them to know. The lights flicker. They go out. It's all he can do. Time passes. He is sure they do not know. He gives up hope. And as he gives up hope, the lights flicker back on. Failure. [center][color=darkorange][b][u]Time Doesn't Exist The Empty[/u][/b][/color][/center] His name is Frederick. He remembered that. His name is Frederick Curie. Captain Frederick Curie. Captain Frederick Allen Nathaniel Curie. The third of his name. He is gi- no, [i]Frederick[/i] is giddy at the thought. Maybe he should just call himself Fred? Yeah. Fred. That fits him, he thinks. Fred has been piecing together his fractured memories one by one. He already remembers his past. He was a soldier. But how did he find his way into The Empty? Fred isn't sure, but he is sure that he will finally reform in the world. He tries again. He breaks through. [center][color=darkorange][b][u]August 3rd, 2023; 12:54 AM CADMUS Facility; Beneath Metropolis, Delaware[/u][/b][/color][/center] This building again. It must be how he got to the Empty. How did that happen? It doesn't matter. Fred begins to focus on reforming. He can do it. He finds a room, a very familiar room ([i]-he remembers a searing pain as his body disintegrated in a matter of seconds, his scream lasting until his larynx went-[/i]) that sparks memories of pain. This is where he will reform. Fred focuses. He reforms. Fred can't see into the rest of the facility anymore. He can't move. He is a large, floating, unmoving mass of... Something. Energy, he thinks. He tries to make it look like him, like a human, like a- "I heard it, just down here!" Person. No no no, he hasn't formed yet, he has to be formed before they can find him. He tries to make the energy look like his face, but fails. The door opens. Two men and a woman in blue clothing step in, "security" printed in white on the left breasts of their shirts. "What... Is that?" one of the men asks. [color=darkorange][b]"Help me!"[/b][/color] he tries to say, but can't. He feels unstable. "I dunno, but we should alert the Director," the woman suggests. [color=darkorange][b]"Please! Before it's too late!"[/b][/color] He can't say it. He tries to control the instability, his form fluctuating wildly. "... What's it doing?" the second man asks. He's going to blow. [color=darkorange][b]"Run! Run!"[/b][/color] He can't control it, he can't say what he wants, he can't save them, he [i]can't[/i]- [center][color=darkorange][b][u]Time Doesn't Exist The Empty[/u][/b][/color][/center] He's back in the Empty. Failure. ... Some time passes, as much as it can in the Empty. Fred remembers it all. Metahumans. CADMUS. Achilles Heel. The incident, as he has referred to it as. Then he was here. He doesn't care anymore. As far as he knows, he'll stay here for eternity. Trapped in nothing. That was always one of his greatest fears, that there was no life after death. He supposes now it's come true. Maybe this is all his mind's last moments, slowed down so that every nanosecond on Earth would seem to last a million years to him. That is to say, he will never be free from this torment. Trapped in his mind for all eternity. He doesn't exist. Then it comes to him. [i]Cogito, ergo sum[/i]. 'I think, therefore I am.' He doubts his existence. That's a thought, and there needs to be something that is capable of thought to... Be. He was never good at this philosophy stuff, but he understands it, somewhat. And what he understands is that... He exists. He is. This was the last push he needed. He will make his return to the human world. After all, third time's the charm, huh? With all the force he can muster, he makes his last push... [center][color=darkorange][b][u]February 6th, 2026; 12:14 PM CADMUS Facility; Beneath Metropolis, Delaware[/u][/b][/color][/center] "How is Subject TG-093 growing, Doctor Eisenhower?" one of the lab assistants asks. Doctor Eisenhower, in response, checks his clip board. [color=salmon][b]"She's developing fast, almost fully grown now. By next year she should be an adult and ready for use."[/b][/color] "Hm. So this is what it'd look like if Grim and Tiger had a kid?" the assistant jokes, checking the containment tube nearby. A young girl of about 13 floats in a blue liquid inside it. Doctor Eisenhower only clicks his tongue in response, shaking his head. Then it comes like thunder. Fast and loud. [color=darkorange][b]"I think. Therefore, I am."[/b][/color] It says nothing afterwards. The assistant pales. "D-doctor, what the hell was that?" Doctor Eisenhower pales as well, for a different reason. [color=salmon][b]"... Captain Curie?"[/b][/color] he whispers in amazement. [center][color=darkorange][b][u]February 7th, 2026; 11:57 AM CADMUS Facility; Beneath Metropolis, Delaware[/u][/b][/color][/center] A day later finds the employees of CADMUS continuing on as normal, if still a bit shaken by yesterday's mysterious disembodied voice, which many who knew him agreed sounded like the late Captain Curie. However, life goes on, and it seems as though that was a one time incident. A ghost story to scare the new workers, not something to dwell on. In the storage unit of CADMUS was a long-forgotten piece of equipment known as the Dilustel Shell, designed for the abandoned Project: Achilles Heel. It would have carried the essence of Captain Curie, and was designed to look like his human body with some enhancements, once he reappeared. However, he never did, and so it went unused. The eyes of the Dilustel Shell open. Frederick looks at his hands, flexing the fingers. He smirks slightly. [b][color=darkorange]"... It's good to be back."[/color][/b] [center][color=darkorange][b][u]TIME IS AN ILLUSION; RELATIVITY IS KEY THE EMPTY IS ALL[/u][/b][/color][/center] TIMERS OFF FIVE YEARS EXACTLY A NEW RECORD